[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2590-S2591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VENEZUELA
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to
visit a mounting crisis in our immediate neighborhood, specifically in
Venezuela.
What I saw were in fact three overlapping crises: economic,
humanitarian, and political.
Hyperinflation, malnutrition, confounding refugee flows into
neighboring countries, political repression, and staggering
mismanagement and corruption are all endemic.
Some of you may have seen the front page of Tuesday's New York Times
with the heartbreaking photo of Venezuela's indigenous Warao people who
are suffering an AIDS epidemic because of the collapse of the country's
healthcare system, just one of many such tragedies unfolding in a
country without basic vaccinations or adequate food.
The situation and suffering are only getting worse as the government
continues to deny the obvious problems or simply blames them all on
other countries.
We have heard this canard before, most notably in Cuba where the
regime blames the mismanagement and repression under its corrupt
leadership on everyone but itself.
Also as in Cuba, the regime is cruelly detaining an innocent
American--in this case Josh Holt--who by all accounts is a political
hostage.
It didn't have to be this way.
Venezuela used to be a wealthy country with an imperfect but
functioning democracy. It also had deep and unaddressed chasms of
poverty, a gulf neglected by many ruling parties of the region that led
to their ouster at the ballot box, including in the case of Hugo
Chavez's initial victories.
But like so many autocrats at heart, Chavez used his position of
power to dismantle the country's democracy and democratic institutions.
He mismanaged the economy and allowed corruption at a scale that made a
mockery of what he initially campaigned against. His successor,
President Maduro, has doubled down on this approach. Political
opponents are jailed or run out of the country, political opposition
parties are arbitrarily banned or disqualified, and the reign of
corruption on the backs of the Venezuelan people has only expanded.
Tragically, Maduro had a choice to avoid what appears to be the
inevitable collapse of his once proud nation. He could have seized the
opportunities offered by the Vatican and other regional powers to
mediate a peaceful political path forward in Venezuela. He could have
taken obvious steps to restore confidence and abide by basic democratic
norms.
Sadly, his government repeatedly rejected such negotiations with the
opposition and is recklessly moving ahead with a snap and discredited
election on May 20; yet this election does not come close to meeting
international democratic standards and will likely only plunge the
country into further isolation and crisis.
[[Page S2591]]
When I met with Maduro and others in his regime in Caracas last
month, I pointed out that Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much
in Washington these days, but they do agree on Venezuela. The Trump
administration is correct this week in urging a suspension of this
election under such absurd conditions.
Let me give you just one example, that of leading opposition figure
and former mayor of a district of Caracas Leopoldo Lopez who remains
under house arrest and disqualified from competing in the upcoming
election. I was able to meet with his brave wife, Lilian Tintori, in
Venezuela--whose passport has been taken by the government--and speak
with him by phone. We were not allowed to visit him in person.
Why was Lopez jailed, kept in solitary confinement, and now put under
house arrest? Because, according to the government, he was using
subliminal messages to direct protesters to act unlawfully.
That is right. One of the country's leading opposition candidates is
in jail for sending ``subliminal messages.''
One of the prosecutors who led the case against Lopez later fled the
country and said the trial was a farce based on false evidence and that
Lopez is innocent. This tells you the nature of the outrageous
political disgrace at play in Venezuela.
Senator Menendez, I, and 10 other Democrats made the same point as
the Trump administration in a resolution introduced earlier this year,
specifically that the results of this rushed election will not be
considered legitimate if basic conditions are not met.
Let me repeat them here as they are so obvious: All political
prisoners and jailed candidates, including Leopoldo Lopez, should be
immediately released and free to participate in the election process;
all parties should be free to peacefully participate in the election;
the discredited election commission must be reformed into a credible
nonpartisan body to administer the election; there must be no linking
of government food to one's political participation or support of the
ruling party, a particularly cruel tactic when many are suffering from
severe malnutrition; local and international election monitors must be
allowed, accredited, and given genuine access in the pre and actual
election periods; and there must be at least 6 months to allow for a
legitimate campaign under these conditions.
I believe the Venezuelan Government provided me a visa to visit
because it was looking for a way out of its increasing and deserved
international isolation.
Well, the path forward is actually quite clear and entirely in the
Venezuelan Government's control, and it begins with running a clean and
fair election as just described. Quite simply, have the courage and
decency to allow the Venezuelan people the same fair and open process
afforded Hugo Chavez when he first won at the ballot box. Have the
courage to allow the world, including the American people, to help your
people who are suffering and fleeing in desperation.
In terms of the relationship with the United States, also let Josh
Holt and his Venezuelan wife come home. Don't continue down the path of
a hostage-taker.
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